In Obama's Words

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraiser at the Apollo Theater in Harlem

to know that Reverend Al Green was here -- "I'm so in love with you" -- Those guys didn't think I would do it. I told you I was going to do it. The Sandman did not come out. Don't worry, Rev., I cannot sing like you. But I just wanted to show my appreciation.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event in New York City

I just came from another fund-raising event at the home of somebody now extraordinarily successful -- his parents were Holocaust survivors. And he described, in introducing me, how they were able to come over here with almost nothing and yet still provide a good public education for their kids, and still give them a leg up and allow them to succeed. And the question is, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, are we going to be able to say the same thing about the next generation coming up.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event in San Francisco

I agree that there are some rules and some regulations that put an unnecessary burden on businesses at a time when they can least afford it. And that's why we've already identified 500 regulatory reforms that will save billions of dollars over the next year. But what we can't do, and what I won't do, is to let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraiser in Burlington, Vt.

Now, out of all 50 states, Vermont has gone the longest without a presidential visit. The last time a President stopped by was President Clinton in 1995. So we decided that today we are going to reset the clock.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event in Honolulu, Hawaii

This competition for new jobs and businesses and middle-class security, that's the race I know we can win. But you don't win it by saying every American is on their own. We're not going to win it if we just hand out more tax cuts to people who don't need them, let companies play by their own rules without any restriction, and we just hope somehow that the success of the wealthiest few translates in the prosperity for everybody else. We have tried that, by the way. We tried it for 10 years. It's part of what got into the mess that we're in. It doesn't work. It didn't work for Herbert Hoover, when it was called trickle-down economics during the Depression. It didn't work between 2000 and 2008, and it won't work today. And the reason it won't work is because we are not a country that is built on survival of the fittest. That's not who we are.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers a speech on the Middle East and North Africa

It will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region and to support transitions to democracy.”

• Other issues:Foreign Policy

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraiser in San Francisco, Calif.

This is not class warfare. It has nothing to do with envy. It's simple math. If somebody like me is getting a tax break that I don't need, then two things can happen -- either the deficit goes up further, our debt increases, or alternatively, we are balancing our budget on the backs of seniors who are paying more for Medicare, or students who are paying more for their student loans, or a veteran who really needs help, or a family trying to get by. Why would I ask them to sacrifice and I do nothing when this country has blessed me like no other country could ever do? That's not right. That's not who we are.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraiser in Bellevue, Wash.

The recovery is accelerating. America is coming back -- which means the last thing we can do is go back to the same failed policies, the very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place. And that's what's at stake in this election.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism

Now, the Jewish community has always understood that the dream we share is about more than just doing well for yourself. From the moment our country was founded, American Jews have helped make our union more perfect. Your parents, your grandparents, your great- grandparents, they remembered what it was like to be a stranger, and as a result treated strangers with compassion. They pursued tikkun olam, the hard work of repairing the world.”

• Other issues:Foreign Policy, Social Issues

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraiser in New York City

Hello, New York! Oh, it is good to be back in New York City. We've got some folks here that I want to acknowledge. First of all, the event co-chairs Deepak Chopra, thank you. Paulette Cole, thank you. Reshma Saujani thank you. Russell Simmons, thank you. Got a couple of elected officials who are here -- Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is here, and public advocate Bill de Blasio is here. I want to thank all the talent who participated -- Ben Folds, Ingrid Michaelson. The Roots are always in the house. And Aziz Ansari.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at a DNC rally

I know that during the campaign, especially after we had already started winning, the feeling was, well, this is just exciting. You got those nice Hope posters, and then there was the inauguration, and you got Beyonce singing and Bono.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraiser in Dearborn, Mich.

Change is the decision we made to rescue the American auto industry from collapse, when some politicians said let Detroit go bankrupt. There were 1 million jobs on the line -- and the fate of communities all across the Midwest was on the line -- and we weren't going to let it happen. I placed my bets on American workers. Today, GM is back on top as the number-one automaker in the world. Chrysler is growing faster than any other car company. Ford is investing billions in plants and factories all across America, bringing thousands of jobs home -- 200,000 new jobs over the last two and a half years. The American auto industry is back. And that happened because of you.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama and the First Lady attend a DNC fundraiser

I know there are people out there who are just hanging by a thread, people who are hurting. It's what keeps me up at night. It's what keeps me fighting.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at rally for New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jon Corzine

Jon Corzine was one of the best colleagues I had in the Senate and he's one of the best partners I have in the White House.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at DNC fundraising dinner

Change is easy if you're just talking about tinkering around the edges. Change is harder when you actually dig in and try to deal with the structural problems that have impeded our progress for too long.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama gives speech at DNC fundraising reception

And not a single day goes by when I don't think of the time, the energy, the money, the undying faith that you put into a campaign that wasn't just about winning an election -- it was about changing a country.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama Addresses the U.N. General Assembly

The United Nations can either with a place where we bicker about outdated grievances or forge common ground, a place where we focus on what drives us apart or what brings us together, a place where we indulge tyranny or a source of moral authority.”

• Other issues:Foreign Policy

Obama Delivers Remarks on Labor Day to AFL-CIO

I've got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we're going to pull the plug on Grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants -- you've heard all the lies. I've got a question for all those folks: What are you going to do? What's your solution? ... And you know what? They don't have one.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama Delivers Remarks at ORGANIZING For America's National Health Care Forum

We've got more work to do, and we've got more promises to keep, and one of those promises is to achieve quality, affordable health care for every single American, and that is what we intend to do when Congress gets back into session.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics, Health Care

Obama Holds Town Hall in Arnold, Mo.

Today, on my 100th day in office, I've come back to report to you, the American people, that we have begun to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off, and we've begun the work of remaking America.”

• Other issues:Economy, Government and Politics